Seriously.

Can we stop buying cloth diapers?

This is an ode to small stashes and responsible consumerism.

 

Is there such thing as too many cloth diapers?

Yes, you can have too many cloth diapers.

I have friends with obscenely large stashes. Even myself, my cloth diaper stash is pretty substantial but doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to have, or the best idea.

Stop this obsession with massive cloth diaper stashes and bring back the power in a reasonably sized cloth diaper stash. I’m going to classify a reasonably sized stash as under 35 cloth diaper changes per child.

Before you purchase your next cloth diaper, I want you to ask yourself this very important question:

Why do you cloth diaper?

Do you cloth diaper to save money on disposables? Then continuing to purchase cloth diapers to build a stash bigger than your washing machine defeats the purpose. You could rationalise with yourself that you’re still saving money, but you could save even more by buying less.

And sure, you could sell them afterwards, but my thought on selling cloth diapers is your better off investing in something real because there’s no resale value in 2018.

Stay on budget by buying just what you need.

If you aim to cloth diaper to save money, and because you’re on a budget, if you keep your stash size expectations reasonable, then you can support ethically made cloth diapers and you don’t need to rely on questionable grey market cloth diapers. Think of the power you can give our cloth diaper entrepreneurs (like these Canadian Made Cloth Diapers) if you spend your money building the perfect sized stash, instead of accumulating a stash of 100 cheap questionable diapers. 

Looking to cloth diaper on a budget, check out these options. 

Looking to cloth diaper your toddler for $100, find out what I did for the 2017 Flats & Handwashing Challenge. 

Do you cloth diaper for the environment? This is why I choose to cloth diaper. I’m not happy with the amount of waste we produce each day and year. While, I’m not a perfect consumer, but one day I realised my stash of cloth diapers is just going to end up in the landfill. Yes, it’s less waste than disposable diapers over 3 years, but it’s still more waste if I continued to purchase cloth diapers.

Ya, there’s a lot of if’s and buts, but even if they get passed down to another kid, they still result in someday garbage.

Honestly, if you can pass down your cloth diapers after 2-3 kids, then wow you bought some awesome cloth diapers. But the stash I use every single day is beginning to show wear and tear, and at some point, I don’t think they’ll make it. The cloth diapers I have purchased second hand lasted one more kid, that’s it. I think we really over emphasis the lifespan of a cloth diaper.  

See that stash of 250 cloth diapers? Regardless of its manufacture origin, one day it’s going to land in a landfill.

That’s why I’m really conscious of the cloth diapers I bring into my home. If I wasn’t a cloth diaper blogger, I wouldn’t be buying any more cloth diapers. If I did buy more cloth diapers, then I purchase them based on their sustainability and learn towards natural materials such as cotton and hemp because of how they return to the earth, and  I purchase fewer synthetics (yes this includes PUL/TPU covers).

I only buy to replace destroyed diapers.

I only buy to provide more information about cloth diapers.

I don’t buy because.

Do you cloth diaper for health reasons? Awesome. Then question why you really need a massive stash?

Do you cloth diaper because you believe in supporting small businesses? Maybe keep buying cloth diapers from your favourite small business then? But maybe you could find a way to support and encourage other people to cloth diaper with you from the small retailer? I can’t say I’m the best advocate to get people cloth diapering, but maybe that’s something you can do. Think about the power we could have to change the world if you convinced three other people to cloth diaper, instead of just buying cloth diapers yourself? These Canadian Cloth Diaper Retailers need more than just your money to stay in business.

Are you buying cloth diapers to make you happy?

Then let’s talk. If this true, then I think we need to chat. Shopping is not a healthy outlet for finding happiness. If you’re reading this and you disagree with me, I urge you to take some time to think about yourself and the choices you make.

I know of mama’s with shopping addictions and it has really impacted their families. There are better ways to find happiness than with amassing massive cloth diaper collections you can’t even use in one week.

I love my cloth diaper stash. I love buying cloth diapers, but then I realised that buying happiness sucked. I’m still in my mom mid-life crisis mode, but I know I’m not going to find true happiness by buying things. I’m not a therapist. Just a concerned mom friend.

Do me a favour?

Next time you think about buying another cloth diaper, think before you buy? Think about the impact it has, and think about what it means to you.

It’s okay to say No.

If you aren’t strong enough to say No, I want you to know you are an amazing mama, and you are totally deserving of love and self-care.

Truthfully, I write this post for all the parents purchasing massive collections of cheap, co-op cloth diapers that often infringe on copyright and have questionable work environments. A stash of 300 $4 cloth diapers is destructive to the cloth diaper industry, the environment, and you.  I say this because I know all the big and small brands need us to continue to spend money with them. I’m drawing boundaries that’s it is not a good thing to have a stash of 200+ cloth diapers. It defeats the purpose behind cloth diapering and creates. 

Let’s be OKAY with small stashes. Let’s love the diapers we do have and share the practicalities of having only 24 cloth diapers because we can do it. I’ve done it. I need to do it because cloth diapering isnt’ about hoarding and consumerism.